A review of London and Paris firms, including from Savile Row, in The New Yorker, 1929. The writer is a bit conservative, referring to the fashionable nature of Scholte's cut. Some of the advice on ordering suits, however, might be of current interest. Notably, a firm's quality in 1929 was quite distinct from its quality today. T.M. Lewin, now a mass-market store, back in the '20s made the vanished luxury of "evening shirts with starched bosoms and cuffs, and bodies of...

Some of the items from the Fairbanks estate had inflated prices, but others were not dissimilar to Ebay. This DB wool coat from H. Huntsman was sold for $688:
A great coat and pea coat from Stovel & Mason, together $469:
Lesley and Roberts blazer (also with an extended front dart), for $115.

This is quite unusual. Both the dinner jacket (1957) and sportscoat (1955) from Stovel & Mason have a detail usually seen on Neapolitan jackets: an extended front dart below the pocket. These are from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Adolphe Menjou was an actor from the Golden Age of Hollywood. His book, It Took Nine Tailors (1948) has some great stories and insights about tailoring. One surprise is how many fittings it took to perfect the flawless suits we associate with photos from the 30s: He lived something of a fantasy life in terms of all of the leading tailors he used. His main tailor was Eddie Schmidt and his cutter Johnny Galupo, who made suits for many stars of the era: The feeling of...

An interview with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in Vogue August 15, 1966. Note the trimness of his shirt cuffs in the picture. Some surprises: he doesn't wear any lace-up shoes, only side elastics from Maxwell's and loafers. His shirts are from Turnbull and Asser, Sulka, and Charvet. As wide ties came back into fashion in the late 60s, he simply re-wore his wide ties from the 30s.
The author writes about Fairbanks: "Mr. Fairbanks's eye for strong, but un-obvious...